Kota plays Keep Away, both tribes will send someone home and an Ace comes up against a full house play on this episode of Survivor Gabon.
Another day, another episode of Survivor Gabon. I’m trying to enter the mindset of a Fang tribe member on Day 19, but it’s near impossible to be as miserable as them. Continuing a theme that has permeated throughout this season, just like the last episode, survival is an important factor that is fueling their demise.
How bad are things at Fang? Crystal knocks over some of their direly low levels of rice, and she just doesn’t eat as a personal sacrifice. Matty made an astute comment in his reaction.
"Rice is more valuable than gold, and she just clumsily trips over it and spills it. I wanted to just lay into her and chew her out, but it’s just pointless. You can’t cry over spilled milk, you know? It’s too late."
It just galvanizes Matty and Ace’s weird partnership and pushes the tribe towards a common goal, but even that will prove to be too much. You see, even though there have been tribes that have been completely picked apart (Matsing) or scaled down to a tribe of one (Ulong), Fang’s mishaps are born out of an ongoing dysfunction. It doesn’t matter that tribes were mixed up twice before the merge; being on Fang meant the death of hope. At least Stephenie from Ulong and Malcolm/Denise from Matsing embodied hope.
There would be nothing Fang would look forward to on Day 19, as the Survivor Gabon challenge gods came up with their most creative endeavor yet; Keep Away. As simple a game as can be, yet Fang’s best attempts come from the frustrated Matty. Sugar does a little twirl in her attempts to smack the ball away from Kota. Meanwhile, surprise challenge beast Randy is tackling people, Bob is diving at others and Dan is making reads.
The song remains the same; Fang loses, Kota wins and Sugar goes to Exile Island again. Kota basks in the glory of their helicopter ride and picnic day out, while Fang is miserable as all hell and plotting to get each other out. Survivor Gabon‘s early game is as predictable as it is necessary, as it’s almost unfathomable in modern broadcasting to have such a miserable experience make its way onto TV screens.
Except one thing’s different this time; Kenny and Crystal solidify their bond, and the pro Super Smash Bros. Melee player starts to team up like he’s Marth and she’s Sheik. How will they take down this week’s opponent, Ganondorf (Ace) and Falco (Matty)? With a little help from the Flipper. Yes, items are allowed in this match.
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Before we get to that, I do have to bring up that the editors of Survivor Gabon tried their darndest to build up human moments. The letters from home gave them an opportunity to let viewers into the slow, crawling Bob winner’s edit with his emotional reading of his letters, and gave us the opportunity to see a humble Dan Kay moment.
Another day at the Sugar Shack on Exile Island finally pays off, as Marcus wins the log roll Immunity Challenge and assigns her an extra immunity necklace. If memory serves me right, it would be the first and last real decisive or impactful move he makes in Survivor Gabon, aiming to force either Matty, Crystal or Ace to go home as a by-product.
Here’s where we get to see Ken put Ace on a full tilt and we finally get to see why he should always be remembered as a great Survivor player. He pulls Sugar over and tells her what she wants to hear, but in a descriptive manner that befits Ace. He’s read the field like it’s a Super Smash Bros. Melee tier list, picking the right matchup to get the best result possible.
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You see, he suggested that Ace was talking about Sugar like he could get the idol from her at any time, seeing her as merely a pawn of his. When Sugar checks in with Ace and he asks her for the use of the idol to stay protected, Ken effectively baited his opponent into making a bad move. When Ace swung and missed, he was left open for a critical, decisive attack.
Once Tribal Council #1 approaches, Sugar’s mind is made up. She pulls off a great blindside while building herself future alliance possibilities, while Ken and Crystal remain safe in the game as Ace goes home on a 3-2 split. It’s for the better; Ace happened to get lucky in the first place to hold as much power as he did, and his push as a villain began and ended with his accent.
This is the first time I’ve rewatched Survivor Gabon, and it’s become increasingly difficult as I get closer to the end of Dan Kay’s run. He passed away on December 31 last year, leaving his two children, girlfriend, mother and sister behind. You can tell just from watching the pared down version of his 21-day experience that he was a bold, brave and kind-hearted person, and his sudden departure from this world makes this rewatch a little bit more difficult to go through.
It gets even tougher, in retrospect, because he’s the most sensible choice for Kota to send home in this double elimination episode of Survivor Gabon. He’s been getting on the tribe’s nerves with his paranoia, and he eats like a maniac. Even a bumbling Susie, who tells Corinne to her face that she was gunning for her to be voted out, cannot save a close, but decisive, 4-3 elimination.
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Even when Kota loses, their loss comes at the expense of someone in the majority’s distrust ahead of the merge. Still, we have to say a bitter goodbye to Dan Kay; a man who has a good word to say about everyone, even in defeat.